Equanimity
by Woeful
Summary: AU fic. Rachel Roth is a second-year college student with an outgoing roommate and noisy neighbors. From falling in love to helping her friends get through problems she'd never wish upon anyone, will she be able to make it to the end of the school year, let alone get any sleep at night? BBRae, RobStar.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all! I'm excited to see where this story is going to take me. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think, or maybe even make some suggestions!**

 **Just a reminder that this is an AU, and it will be rated M. There will be more darker themes for the team than their usual encounters.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own the Teen Titans.**

* * *

 _And the next thing Rachel knew, she was flying over Jump City. "_ Faster, faster", she _thought. Adrenaline coursed through her body. Mustering all the strength she had, she chased after a man hidden in the shadows. Clad in all metal, he turned around ominously, making eye contact with her, as he conjured fire from his hands and shot it at someone behind her, who screamed in pain. The man's armor glinted in the sun as he looked at Rachel again, causing her to shudder in fear, and mouthed, "_ You're next."

Rachel Raven Roth considered herself a the typical college student. She studied a sufficient amount of material, slept an insufficient amount of time, and ate an even less insufficient amount of healthy food. She used her studying as an excuse for not being extremely social, and, as a result of that, got relatively decent grades and had relatively few friends. She practically lived in the library—and if she didn't have her nose stuck in a textbook, she was probably reading some other book, simply because she wanted to. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had done anything remotely exciting. So, when her alarm clock roared to life on that Thursday morning, she wasn't the least bit surprised that the most thrilling thing to happen to her that month was merely a dream.

She sighed as she sat up, hair disheveled and eyes dazed. Stretching her arms upward, she yawned as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Slightly disoriented, she kicked back her sheets, covering the piles of notes, textbooks, and flashcards that were scattered around her bed from studying the night before. She turned off her blaring alarm as she stood up. Looking at the time, she cursed to herself as she noticed she was running late. After throwing on some clean clothes and smoothing down her hair, she grabbed her backpack and ran out of her apartment.

It had been test after test this week in University, and Rachel didn't think she had ever been so stressed. She had been studying absolutely nonstop for exams—the only breaks she really ever gave herself, besides sleep, was the time she took walking back and forth from classes, the library, and her apartment. Sighing as she walked into a dead-silent classroom filled with students doing last minute preparations for the last test they were all about to take for this quarter, she slumped down into the nearest seat and pulled out her notes.

The next three hours went as it usually did for collegiate students; furious writing and sighs of exasperation included.

And then, almost as quickly it had began, the test was over. All of the weight of weeks of stress was instantaneously lifted off of Rachel's shoulders as she handed her exam to her professor, mouthing a silent 'thank you' as she turned around and hoped—not in a bad way—that she would never have to see that professor again.

Stepping outside, she felt rays of sunshine dance across her pale skin, and instinctively, she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her eyes. She heard many students around her talking about their plans for spring break as she was walking back to her apartment, and reality finally sunk in—she was officially on spring break. No classes to worry about, no due dates or deadlines looming over her shoulder, _nothing_. She grinned to herself in relief. She was finally going to be able to breathe normally.

Or so she thought, anyways.

After the long walk back to her apartment, the first thing she heard when entering was the incessant arguing of her neighbors and the not-so-subtle squeaking of bedsprings that appeared to be coming from her housemate's room. Flushing red, she ran out the front door, slamming it closed as she escaped from her awkward intrusion. After gathering a hint of composure, Rachel sighed, for she was _really_ hoping for some peace and quiet—or maybe just a little bit of a heads up about her housemate's activities.

Quickly realizing that it was near impossible to relax with all the noise, she decided to try and persuade the former of the two noise disturbances—to put it lightly—into shutting the hell up. She knocked on her neighbors' door as loudly as she could, hoping that she would be heard over their racket of a debate.

Her knocking went unheard, and she closed her eyes in defeat. As she slumped down against the railing that kept her from falling off the third floor of the outdoor complex, she wished there was something to do to until she could hole up in her room and relax in silence. The corners of her mouth turned downwards into a frown as she remembered that she had a book in her backpack that she had just picked up from the used bookstore in downtown Jump City, and, unfortunately, she had left that on the floor of her apartment when she ran out. And that was territory she definitely wouldn't dare to enter until she knew for a fact that she wouldn't be hearing or seeing anything she didn't want to.

Fortunately, she was quickly rescued from her short-lived boredom with a tap on the shoulder and a, "Hey, Rachel." She looked over her shoulder, half-smiling, as she recognized her savior.

"Hey, Richard."

Richard Grayson: the perfect depiction of the phrase 'tall, dark, and handsome'. With his hair that was always styled to precision and his brooding aura, girls, all unsuccessful, mind you, would practically throw themselves at his feet. But of course, Rachel didn't think of him in that way. Yes, she would say that he was easy on the eyes, but he was her first friend in University, and after getting to know each other over the span of over two years, she claimed to know far too much about the man to consider him anything more than a brother. However, they had been out of contact recently; and Rachel was too proud to admit it, but she missed his presence.

She stood up and stepped away from the railing to move to closer to him. "How've you been?"

"Been busy, as usual. You?" he asked, taking off his sunglasses so he could make better eye contact with his friend.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Busy? Isn't the quarter over?" She rolled her eyes jokingly. "I've been okay. I'd invite you in, but there seems to be some interesting business in there that I do not want to get in the middle of." She motioned towards her door with her thumb.

"Busine—Oh," he realized. He shook his hands as if to say no. "I don't think I'll be going in then."

"That's probably a smart decision. What brings you around?" Rachel asked.

"I'm checking out places for over the summer," he replied simply. "I'm staying for an internship."

Rachel nodded in response. "What's it for?"

Richard's eyes lit up, and Rachel listened intently as he told her about his internship, how he was going to be interning at a prominent law firm in Jump City over the summer.

"So, enough about me, though," he said, finishing up his story. "Do you have any plans for the summer?"

She didn't, not yet, anyway. She forgot how sometimes Richard's ambition made her feel like she didn't work hard enough.

Before she could answer his question, however, they heard the almost silent click of a door closing. Rachel whipped her head around, curious to see who her roommate's newest conquest was, and when she figured out who he was, she nearly died of laughter instead.

" _Roy Harper?_ "

Rachel bit down on her lip to stop herself from snickering. Roy was a notorious womanizer and a member of some fraternity that no one gave the time of day.

The man looked sheepish as he turned around. "Rachel Roth. Nice to see you anywhere else other than the library." He nodded towards Richard, not saying hi, but at least acknowledging his presence.

Rachel noticed that Richard had grown eerily quiet, tense even. Her eyes flickered to his hand, which had been clenched into a fist.

"Well, this _is_ where I live," she pointed out, attempting to ease the tension of the run-in.

"Right," Roy replied. He coughed awkwardly, leaning up against the door.

Rachel groaned mentally as she and Richard exchanged looks. Obviously Roy couldn't tell when he wasn't wanted, and by the looks of it, he wasn't going to be heading out until he got a conversation out of the two of them.

"You got any plans for the break, Roy?" Richard asked through gritted teeth.

"The ol' Speedster is heading to Mexico," he replied shortly, not elaborating, nor asking what anyone else was doing over break. His attention turned to Rachel. "You're welcome to join me if you want, beautiful."

Rachel gagged.

Ignoring his invitation, she smiled at him sarcastically before saying, "Speedster? That's what all the girls call you, right? Why?"

Richard smirked and unclenched his fists.

Roy's cheeks reddened slightly at Rachel's reply, but he recovered and shrugged, retorting back, "Because I get them screaming my name so quick." Rachel could practically see the gears turning in his head as stopped talking to think of a response. "And what is Miss Anti-Organized-Everything doing listening to sorority gossip?"

Rolling her eyes, Rachel almost chuckled at the banter. She replied dryly, "With those girls, rumors spread like wildfire. I would be more worried about your reputation than how I acquired my information, if I were you."

The red-headed boy nodded. "Thanks for your concern, little lady." He flashed a quick smile towards her and grunted towards Richard, uttering, "See you around," before disappearing down the stairs and out of the building.

The remaining two looked at each other, speechless, before Richard's nose crinkled in disgust. Seeing his response to Roy caused something to click in her mind, and their lack of contact prior to this run-in and awkward conversation suddenly made sense to her. Rachel offered him a smile, out of pity. Trying to lift the mood, she murmured, "Why anyone would want to sleep with him is beyond my knowledge."

He grinned for a second, but his smile fell almost as quickly as it had formed, disappointment returning to his face. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, "Not like she's any of my business, anyway." He stopped talking abruptly, almost as if he had just realized he said that out loud, and began walking towards the stairs to leave. "Hey, Rachel, let's get coffee sometime? So we can catch up and whatnot?" With almost anyone else, she would have known it was an empty invitation, but she knew he was sincere.

Rachel nodded slowly in response. "Hey, Richard." He stopped walking and turned back around to her. "She'll come around, you know. Kori," she said softly. Richard shook his head, and Rachel swore she could see sadness glinting in his eyes.

He sighed, drawing out a long breath. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." He waved goodbye to her, running his fingers through his spiked hair. "Oh!" He smirked deviously. "I forgot! Tell those dunder-headed neighbors of yours I need my history reader back. Trying to receive my degree." And with that, he walked down the stairs, leaving Rachel alone with her thoughts once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi all! Thanks for all of the reads and reviews I got on the first chapter!**

 **I really appreciate the feedback, but I feel like I need to clarify something. This is a college AU, so the characters will probably seem more out of character than they would if it wasn't an AU. I'm going to be creating them how I would imagine them if they were college students. And because they're in college, there will be some partying, drinking, and sex, which is where the M rating comes in. If you don't want to see your Titans engaging in these behaviors, I recommend not reading this fic.**

 **Anyway, here's another chapter because I was procrastinating all day today!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans!**

* * *

Rachel decided to go try to bother her neighbors one more time before going back into her apartment, so she knocked again, much more loudly than before. The arguing stopped for a second, and someone yelled, "It's open!" before returning to their yelling.

Taking this as her cue to enter, Rachel opened the door and leaned up against the doorframe, waiting for her friends to acknowledge her.

"Roth, close the door, would you? You're letting in too much sunlight for my liking."

The boys' attentions were entirely consumed by a video game. Their eyes were glued to their television, and their fingers moved frantically on their controllers.

"Hello, to you too, _Garfield,"_ she replied almost bitterly before closing the door gently.

"Hey, there's no reason for tha—Oh come _on!_ " Garfield threw his controller down and leaned back into the couch, frustrated.

"Lost again, huh? Suck it, bitch," Victor gloated gleefully before setting down his controller and taking off his headset. "Hey, Rae. How've you been?"

A small smile flickered across Rachel's face. "I finally finished this quarter. How do you think I'm feeling?"

Victor grinned. "Free as a bird?"

"Exactly."

"You'd better get lit for spring break, girl," Victor winked before reaching for one of the opened bags of chips on their coffee table.

"'Lit' isn't exactly my style, Vic, but I get the point," she said.

Victor moved some of their junk off of the couch and put it in Garfield's lap, resulting in loud protests from the skinnier boy. "Well, don't just stand there; get comfortable."

"Thanks," Rachel walked over to the now open spot and sat down.

Garfield eyed the girl questioningly as she got comfortable. "Roth, no offense, but why exactly are you here?"

Rachel looked offended for a moment, until Victor chimed in with, "He's right, you don't really come by unless there's something going on."

Rachel crossed her arms and leaned back into the couch. They were right. "Richard wants his history reader back."

"And the truth comes out!" Garfield teased. "And I thought that you came by just to see me."

"You wish," Rachel deadpanned.

"Ooh," Garfield uttered as he threw his hands up to his chest dramatically as if someone had maimed his heart. "Shot down. That hurts."

Rachel didn't even crack a smile, which resulted in Victor letting out a hearty laugh. "I'll go get that reader for ya, Rae." He pushed himself up off of the couch and left the room, leaving Garfield and her alone.

Garfield turned his body so he was parallel with the couch, facing Rachel. "So, got any plans for the break?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "None other than relaxing with a good book."

"Well, that's lame!" the boy exclaimed. "In spirit of spring break, you should do something. _Anything._ "

"Anything includes reading my book, Logan," Rachel informed, raising an eyebrow in confidence.

Garfield groaned audibly, putting his head in his hands before sitting up and shaking his head. "I won't allow it. Come over tonight. We're having a little kick-back with just a few friends, and you're one of them."

Rachel sighed, considering it for a second, before shaking her head. "Maybe next time."

"Come on, Roth, entertain me for once. It'll be a good time. Please?" He looked at her with pleading puppy-dog eyes.

She remained adamant and shook her head once again. "That's not really my thing."

"It may not be, but it will be tonight if you want the reader back," Victor interrupted, his voice booming in from down the hall as he walked back into the living room. He held up the paperback book tauntingly. "Now, how bad did you want to get this back to Rich?"

Rachel stood up and crossed her arms. "Blackmail isn't fair, Vic."

"Don't consider it blackmail. Think of it as… As a friendly exchange."

Sighing, Rachel mulled over the options in her head. Did Richard _really_ need that reader that badly?

"Fine," she grumbled. "I'll be there. A brief appearance, though. Cross my heart, and all that shit."

Victor tossed her the reader, which she caught easily, while Garfield said, "That's my girl."

With the reader tucked under her arm, Rachel headed for the door. "I'm _not_ your girl, Logan." She opened the door and left the apartment, disappointed that her plans to stay in were no longer intact.

Back inside the apartment, Garfield groaned again. "Shot down three times today? Fuck, if this was baseball, I'd be out."

Victor, laughing, threw a pillow at him. "Shut _up_ , man. And help me get this place cleaned up instead of sitting around on your ass all day."

The pillow hit Garfield square in the face, and he let out another grunt before standing up. "Man, today is just not my day."

—

Rachel groaned as she got back to her apartment, slightly irritated that she had been forced to agree to attend the boys' party that night.

Why couldn't she just be left alone?

There was no sight of Kori as she made her way through the living room, so she picked up her backpack, went straight to her room, and closed the door behind her.

The sight of her room was such a comfort to her. Her walls were painted a deep, dark red, which complemented the black stonewashed bedding on her daybed. A dark grey and white mandala tapestry hung on the entirety of the wall behind her bed. A small bookshelf filled to the brim with books was placed adjacent to the wall her bed was on, and on the opposite wall of the bookshelf was a desk, covered in papers, a few candles, and an incense holder.

She immediately went to clean the papers off her desk, and then pulled out some incense to light. She lit the candles on her desk first, and then put the incense to the flame, shook it out, and put it in its holder.

Sighing in contentment, Rachel sat down on her bed. The scents of her amber and oak moss candles combined with the smokiness of the incense calmed her almost instantaneously. She inhaled deeply before reaching over to her backpack and pulling out the book she had been wanting to read ever since before finals.

She didn't even get to read the first sentence before she heard a knock on her door.

"Rachel? I don't mean to disturb you, but can I come in?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Rachel grumbled, closing her book shut. She should have known better than to actually think that she would have been able to get in more than five minutes of relaxation time.

Kori opened the door and walked in. A satin pink robe was tied securely around her, and her hair was thrown up in a messy bun, loose strands of her red hair falling down around her face. A wide smile adorned her face, and her eyes lit up when she laid eyes on her housemate.

"Rachel! How did your last final go?" She walked over and sat down on the bed next to her.

Rachel winced, still not used to Kori's seeming lack of knowledge when it came to personal space. She shifted away from her a couple of inches. "It's done and over with. Now I just want to relax," she hinted, hoping that her roommate would take the bait and leave.

But of course, she didn't. Rachel really should have known better.

"Oh!" Kori clasped her hands together. "That is wonderful. We should celebrate tonight!"

"Can't."

Rachel really didn't mean to be short with Kori, but she was really, really exhausted. And she really did want to get in a couple of chapters before she had to go next door.

"Can't?" Kori questioned, ignoring Rachel's lack of investment to the conversation. She was used to it. "Why not?" She raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I already have plans _,"_ Rachel admitted casually, her attention back on her now open book.

Kori squealed. "Really? Where? What will you be doing?" She started bouncing up in down in excitement for her roommate, since out of all of the time she had lived with her, Rachel had never _once_ had plans other than staying in.

"I haven't even told you my plans yet," Rachel drawled. "How do you know that my plans aren't just to stay in?"

Kori's face fell.

Sensing the disappointment in her friend, she closed her book and focused her attention on the girl in front of her. "Actually…" she paused, unsure if she wanted to disclose her actual plans for the night. Forced plans, she might add.

"You do have plans!" Kori said enthusiastically. "Spill."

"I'm only going next door." Rachel said as she shrugged nonchalantly. "No big deal."

Kori shook her head frantically. "It _is_ a big deal! I've never seen you go anywhere on a Friday night!"

Rachel sighed. She was right; she really didn't ever go anywhere on the weekend. It was rare for her to leave the apartment for anything other than to go to the library or class.

Gasping, Kori shot up from her bed and headed straight to her housemate's closet. "I _must_ help you get ready for tonight." She flung the doors open and started flipping through the clothes inside.

"I—I…" Rachel stuttered as she watched Kori go through her closet. There was no point in protesting at this point—she was going to be Kori's doll for the night.

—

"Please, please just put on the lip gloss, Rachel, and then I'll let you leave, okay?"

"No, I think I'm good, thanks."

Kori had spent over an hour primping and dressing Rachel, wanting her to be dressed to perfection for her night out. Kori had curled her hair into loose, wavy curls, which fell just below her shoulders. A long sleeved, black off the shoulder top clung to her torso, which rested right below her navel. She had faded and ripped black skinny jeans on, which, as a result, left part of her abdomen bare. Her eyes were dusted with a purple shimmer eyeshadow, and thin stripes of eyeliner accentuated her eyes. Her typical black combat boots adorned her feet, making the outfit Kori put together for her much more "Rachel" than she thought it would be.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Rachel, you know I'm not going to stop until you say yes." Kori held the lip gloss out to her, waiting patiently for her to take it.

"Fine," she snapped, taking the lip gloss and applying the very least she could to her lips. When had she become such a pushover?

Squealing once again, Kori pulled her over into the bathroom so she could see her finished appearance. "You look marvelous!"

When Rachel looked in the mirror, she was surprised with her reflection. She actually thought she looked… Nice. She looked over at her housemate in almost gratitude. "Thank you."

Kori beamed. "Of course. It was fun, yes?"

"It kind of was," Rachel admitted, still in shock of her appearance.

"We will do it again sometime!"

Rachel just nodded in response, not wanting to say no. "I'd better go," she stated awkwardly as she made her way out of the bathroom and headed towards the door to leave.

Kori followed her out, sitting on the couch. "Have fun, be safe, and if you need anything I'm just one phone call away!"

"Thanks Kori," Rachel said.

Before leaving the room, Rachel added, wanting to be considerate, "Hey Kori, I know it's a little late, but you're definitely welcome to come with."

Kori laughed, shaking her head. "Not tonight, but thank you. Tonight is _my_ night to do the staying in."

Rachel chuckled and closed the door.

As soon as she was outside of her apartment, all she wanted to do was go right back in, curl up under a couple of blankets, and go to sleep. The music coming from the apartment was much too loud for her tastes, and the tell-tale scent of alcohol coming from underneath the door could only mean that the whole place would be filled with drunk students. She made a couple steps backwards toward the comfort of her place before shutting her eyes tightly, deciding that she wasn't dressed up like this for absolutely nothing, and that she _definitely_ deserved to have a little fun after the end of a quarter, whether it be reading a book or going out.

With her sudden courage, she knocked on the Victor and Garfield's door. Of course, the music drowned out her knocks, so she wasn't surprised when no one answered. Hesitantly, she checked the door to see if it was unlocked.

Which of course, it was, and Rachel slipped into the apartment unnoticed.

There were probably around twenty people in the apartment; the majority of them dancing to the beat of the music, some holding red plastic cups as they moved. The boys had pulled out their DJ equipment for the occasion, and Garfield was currently spinning, large headphones draped around his neck.

Coming to the conclusion that Garfield was too busy for her to approach him, she looked around for any other familiar faces she could talk to. She soon realized she hardly knew anyone there, quickly dispelling any sense of confidence she had before she had left her own apartment. She pulled down the bottom of her cropped shirt, trying to cover her bare skin.

Shrinking away from the crowd of people, she found herself in the kitchen. On the counter were a few bottles of hard liquor, a box of wine, and countless bottles of beer—both full and empty. Red cups cluttered the emptier spaces of the counter. Their usual table had been converted into a table for beer pong, where a few people were gathered around cheering and chanting.

It was safe to say that Rachel felt _extremely_ out of place.

She stepped out of the kitchen and leaned up against the wall, settling on watching Garfield work his way around the turntable. He was clad in a dark blue, button-down, short-sleeved shirt, tan shorts, and white sneakers. He was wearing a white baseball cap backwards on his head. He danced to the song he was playing, nodding his head to the beat as he hyped up the rest of the party. He looked very in his element as he deejayed, which caused the corners of Rachel's lips to turn up into a small smile.

Rachel must have been staring for a couple seconds too long, because he eventually made eye contact with her. A goofy grin spread across his face and he waved her over. Her face tinged pink as he saw her, feeling slightly embarrassed that he caught her watching him, but she walked over to go talk to him anyway.

"Roth! I didn't think you were gonna make it," Garfield greeted loudly, the music making it hard to hear each other.

"Well," Rachel said, equally as loud, motioning to herself, "you thought wrong. I'm here, aren't I?" She felt more at ease once she was talking to him, resuming her banter with him almost instantly.

"You definitely are," he commented, looking back and forth from her to the equipment in front of him. "You look—Hold on," he interrupted himself, turning towards the crowd of people. "Yo, Garth!" he called. "Come spin a few?"

A muscular boy with dark hair emerged from the group and walked behind the booth. "It's about time, Gar," he said, hitting the back of Garfield's hat lightheartedly.

Garfield handed the headphones to the other boy and stepped away from the booth, bowing down jokingly. "The stage is yours, dude."

"Thanks, man," he said, immediately transitioning the song to something with much more bass than before. He looked out towards the crowd. "IT'S SPRING BREAK, MOTHERFUCKERS!" he yelled, resulting in the group in front of him to cheer.

Rachel snorted.

"Now that I can give you my full attention," Garfield said, "you look clean—er—you clean up nice, Roth."

Rachel smirked. "Nice recovery, Logan. And thank you. You don't look too bad yourself."

Flashing her one of his trademark smiles, Garfield said sarcastically, "A compliment? From the ice queen herself?" He squinted at her jokingly. "Are you drunk already?"

"Remind me never to say anything nice to you ever again," Rachel remarked, swatting his arm. "And no, I'm not drunk." She paused before adding, "Yet."

Garfield raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yet? You want something to drink?" He sounded surprised, but then again, Rachel felt like he had a reason to be. She didn't drink often.

Rachel shrugged. "You promised me a good time."

"If you want a good time, a good time is what you'll get!" Garfield exclaimed, still sounding surprised.

The pair walked over to the kitchen and Garfield cracked open a beer for himself. "What can I get you?"

Rachel looked over their selection of drinks, more carefully this time, and said nonchalantly, "Vodka."

"Going straight for the hard stuff, huh?" Garfield asked as he prepared her drink. He handed it to her and looked at his own drink sheepishly. He put it down and poured himself some whiskey.

Smirking, Rachel merely replied, "Yep," before tapping her cup against his and downing its contents. The liquor burned her throat as she swallowed it down. Garfield followed suit and put his cup down.

"So, alcohol, check. What else does a good time entail?" Rachel asked, starting to feel pleasantly warm.

"Well," Garfield said, "We can go dance."

"Not a chance," Rachel denied.

"C'mon, Roth, it's all part of the experience," Garfield assured. "It'll be fun, I promise."

Rachel looked at him warily, but, to both their surprise, nodded. "One song."

Garfield grinned, and Garfield walked back to the living room, careful not to run into anyone already dancing. Rachel followed him hesitantly, feeling out of her element. Couples were attached at the hips, moving sensually up against one another, and Rachel silently hoped Garfield didn't expect to dance with her like that.

She must have looked just as uncomfortable as she felt internally because Garfield looked at her somewhat quizzically and said, "We don't have to dance if you don't want to."

"We can," she pointed out awkwardly. "Just not like _that._ "

Garfield put out his hand for her to take and bowed. "Of course not, m'lady."

Relieved, Rachel took his hand. She didn't even get to roll her eyes before he spun her around in a circle and had his arm wrapped around her waist securely. Their proximity caused her to blush slightly, and she looked down at her feet to hide her face.

"Just a forewarning, Logan," she warned quietly, "I can't dance."

Chuckling, Garfield said, "It's a good thing I'm leading then."

Given the very little space the two had, they danced fairly well together. Even though it was awkward at first, with Garfield trying to keep them on beat to the face-paced music and Rachel trying desperately not to step on his feet with her already clunky combat boots, they eventually fell into a decent rhythm. They kept the small talk to a minimum as they danced, and almost as soon as it had begun, the song was over, and they broke apart, leaving a friendly distance between them.

Garfield looked at her bashfully, rubbing his neck. "And you said you couldn't dance."

"I can't!" Rachel protested. "You must have been good enough to compensate for me."

"No," he shook his head, taking a step closer to her. "You were good."

"You're right," she admitted, ignoring his compliment. "This is a good time. I'm having a good time."

The grin returned to Garfield's face. "I told you so." He reached for hand, spinning her around again, causing Rachel to laugh softly, and dipping her. Their eyes locked, and the blush crept back onto both of their cheeks.

The two looked at each other tentatively, as if they weren't entirely sure what to do next. Garfield pulled her back up and moved his hand up to her chin, tilting her face upwards.

Rachel didn't find herself protesting this entire time.

Why wasn't she stopping this?

It was right about then Rachel decided that Garfield—her neighbor, Garfield—her friend, Garfield—was very attractive to her. Not just attractive. Maybe, just maybe, she liked him as more than a friend.

Or maybe it was the alcohol in her system.

But regardless, she still wasn't stopping him, and if this was anything like some of the books she had read at any point in her life, he was going to kiss her any second now. Her heart pounded, the rate increasing with every millimeter closer he got to kissing her.

She inhaled, trying to keep her nerves under control, and closed her eyes.

But instead of feeling his lips on hers, she felt him jerk away as a girl started chanting, "Shots! Shots! Shots!"

She opened her eyes, feeling embarrassed, and looked at Garfield, who looked just as sheepish as she did. The two broke apart and, once seeing that they were both feeling the same way, started laughing.

"Hey," someone said, "there you are, dude!"

Rachel looked up to see Victor, who now had a huge smile on his face. "Rae! Girl, you made it! Good to see you here!"

Rachel was still very much embarrassed of what had almost just happened thirty seconds earlier, so she was extremely grateful that Victor had come up to them when he did. "Good to be here, Vic."

Victor clapped Rachel on the back lightly before saying, "I'll come find you guys again in a sec, I gotta find me some food before I can drink anymore."

He left, wandering off to the kitchen, leaving Garfield and Rachel alone again.

An awkward silence settled between the two of them as they both looked at each other. They sat there, not speaking, just looking at each other for a minute, the noise of the surrounding party drowning themselves out.

Suddenly, an irrational fear in the back of her mind arose. What if it was like this between them from now on? What if she lost her friend because of an _almost_ kiss? What if she had to plan out her daily schedule from now on so she would never, under any circumstances, run into her neighbor?

Of course, these fears left her mind as Garfield coughed, breaking the silence, and asked awkwardly, "So… Shots?"

Rachel nodded, feeling the tension drain away between the two of them. Maybe she wouldn't have to worry about anything.

"Yeah. Shots."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for reading! It makes me _so_ happy. Like, it makes my day.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, nor any movies mentioned in this chapter.**

* * *

Rachel groaned as she woke up the next morning.

She cringed as she opened her eyes, the light filtering in from her window much too bright for her liking. When she tried to get up to shut her blinds, the world started spinning. She gave up on moving within a few seconds, and she flopped back onto her bed in defeat.

Hungover. Of course she was.

She reached for the bottle of aspirin that she kept on her nightstand. It was empty, to her dismay, and she threw the plastic bottle at the wall in frustration.

She pulled the covers over her head, trying to hide from the light that had seemingly become her enemy overnight.

Had she really drunk that much last night?

The correct answer was yes; yes, she had.

After Garfield and she had resorted to alcohol to avoid their almost kiss, she had downed three shots almost immediately. Then Victor had come back around, wanting to join them, and she had three more. After that, she couldn't remember anything. Anything at all.

She couldn't even remember how she had gotten back into her own bed. She was honestly surprised that she had made it back home alive and in one piece, even if she was only next door.

She snuggled deeper into her blankets. If anything was going to help her recover from her hangover, it was staying in bed. All day, if necessary.

After she had just gotten comfortable, her phone vibrated against the wood of her side table, the loud noise startling her and causing her to jump—which only made her throbbing headache even worse than before.

Grumbling, she reached for her phone, her eyes only partly open.

Oh. It was eleven in the morning.

And she had a text message from…

Garfield?!

 _You awake?_

Wondering why he even cared if she was up, she texted back a simple 'yes' before curling back under the covers, her phone forgotten, left on the side table.

Her phone buzzed again, and Rachel groaned in frustration as she reached for her phone again; her hangover made her even more irritable, wanting to be left alone even more than usual.

 _Good._

Good?! What was that even supposed to mean? She tossed her phone to the side again, rolling back over.

"Nice to see that you care enough to text back, Roth."

Rachel almost jumped out of her skin.

" _What are you doing here, Logan?"_ Rachel seethed, scrambling—to the best of her ability—to make sure she was covered entirely by her blanket. "What—How did you even get in?"

Garfield was standing casually in the open doorway, leaning up against the doorframe. A wide smile canvassed his face, obviously amused by her reaction.

"I only stopped by to see how you were doing," he stated defensively. "I don't think I've ever seen you drink that much."

"Well, I'm doing fine. You can leave now."

"Woah," Garfield teased, not phased by her shortness. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

Rachel scoffed. "Yeah, if waking up on the wrong side of the bed means waking up with a hangover."

"With that kind of attitude, I kind of figured, Roth," Garfield laughed.

He moved to sit on the edge of her bed, but then got up to sit at her desk chair when she glared at him with a look that could _actually_ kill.

"Oh yeah," he added, "I brought you this. For that pretty much inevitable hangover of yours."

He tossed her a bottle of aspirin, which landed on her comforter with a soft thud, the pills inside the bottle rattling around.

Rachel looked at him gratefully before popping a couple pills in her mouth and swallowing them dry. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I appreciate it."

"Sure," he nodded, growing silent.

The two sat, both looking at each other awkwardly, neither of them continuing on with the conversation. Rachel was entirely unsure what to say, still feeling tension between them from the previous night. This went on for a few agonizing minutes before both parties decided to break the silence.

"Rachel," Garfield started, at the same time Rachel said, "Logan." They both shared a quiet laugh, before growing silent again.

"Go ahead," she offered, honestly surprised that he addressed her with her first name rather than her surname. He never called her that. _Ever._

"Alright, well…" he trailed off, unsure of how to begin the conversation.

"You can tell me," Rachel encouraged lightly, anxious as to where he was going with this.

Garfield ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "I'm sorry for last night."

Rachel's eyes widened. Of all things he could have said, she never expected him to apologize. He'd done nothing wrong.

"Sorry?" she repeated, confused.

"Yeah, I wanna apologize for my actions last night," he said, almost a bit too formally, as if he had rehearsed what he was going to say before he had come over. "You—and I, for that matter—had been drinking. I shouldn't have almost… You know."

"Oh," Rachel said plainly. "Well, I guess it's a good thing you—we didn't."

Garfield nodded again, and Rachel's heart sank. Even if she was a little drunk before they almost kissed, she was definitely still in control enough to know that she did have some sort of feelings for the boy in front of her. It just took a little bit of intoxication to get her to confess them to herself.

"Yeah," the boy agreed. "But only because I don't want our first kiss to happen like that."

Rachel's eyes widened involuntarily. "What?" she sputtered, his straightforwardness throwing her for a loop.

Garfield rubbed his neck awkwardly before moving from where he was sitting and onto her bed.

Rachel didn't protest this time.

"You don't deserve to have your first kiss with someone like that," he repeated. "You're special, Roth." His voice grew quieter with every word he spoke.

Rachel's face tinted pink. "I—I…" She didn't know what to say. She had never been in a situation like this like this before—the closest she had ever been in a relationship with anyone was with the male characters from some of the books she read, and that, of course, was all courtesy of her own head.

"And that's why I'd like to propose—er, suggest—that I take you out tomorrow night."

Red lights flashed in Rachel's mind. A date? It all seemed much too fast to her—at least, compared to all of the books she had read, anyway.

Rachel mentally shook her head. She had to remind herself that this wasn't a book—this was real life. And she knew that a part of her was, at the very least, interested on going on this date, so what was holding her back from saying yes?

"I'd like that," she said quickly before she could talk herself out of it.

"Really?" Garfield asked, his face lighting up in surprise. He cleared his throat before correcting himself, saying, "I mean, I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds like a plan." Rachel had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing at his attempt at covering up his excitement. She didn't blame him though—this did seem out of her element.

She wondered what had gotten into her lately. First, going to a party, then getting drunk at that said party, then agreeing to going on a date with Garfield? The idea of spring break must have finally gotten to her.

"Great," Garfield said, getting up from her bed and heading for her door. "I'll see you tomorrow then—oh, and I hope that hangover eases up soon. Water'll help."

He waved goodbye and slipped through the door, closing it silently behind him.

Once he left, Rachel couldn't keep herself from grinning like an idiot. Her hangover was long forgotten—if it was still there, she couldn't feel it anymore.

—

The day had come and gone, and Rachel was sitting on the living room floor, reading. A blanket was tightly wrapped around her lower body, and her book rested on her stomach. A cup of hot tea was placed on the floor next to her so she could easily access it to take a sip between each page.

The book she had picked up was absolutely fascinating to her. She had found it tucked away in the fantasy section of the used bookstore, and even though fantasy wasn't typically her thing, she found herself mouthing each word as she delved into each page, the story developing before her very eyes.

Quiet afternoons like this were ones she wished would come around more often.

She had finished almost a third of the novel when she heard arguing coming from the outside of her apartment. Curious, she dog-eared the page she was on and closed the book, wanting to listen in.

"You _whore,_ " a male voice insulted loudly.

Rachel cringed, contemplating whether or not she should hide out in her room, not wanting to be present for the rest of the conversation.

But before she could even move, the door opened to reveal Kori and Roy. Roy's face was red with fury while Kori looked calm and collected. Rachel shrank behind the couch so she couldn't be seen by the two, definitely not wanting to get involved.

"That was unnecessary, Roy," Kori said coolly. "We're done—now please, do yourself a favor and get out of here."

The door slammed shut, and Kori came to sit down on the couch, sighing.

"You okay, Kori?" Rachel moved out into her housemate's view, concerned.

Kori jumped slightly before relaxing back into the couch after she noticed Rachel. "I'm fine," she said unconvincingly. "Men really need to come up with better insults, don't you think?"

Sitting down on the opposite side of the couch, Rachel nodded. "Want to talk about it?" she offered.

"I really did like Roy, Rachel. I really did," she admitted, turning to face her friend. Her face contorted in pain before she added, "I am _not_ a whore."

Rachel nodded. "You're not. If men are praised for having sex, it's not right for women to be put down for doing the same."

Kori looked up at her housemate, sniffling. "Exactly," she said in a small voice. "But he'll probably go off and add to the list of lies that are already out there about me." She put her head in her hands and started to cry, unable to keep her emotions at bay any longer.

"If he does that, he's not worth your tears, Kor," Rachel consoled.

Kori took a deep breath, attempting to calm down. "He may not be worth the tears, but that's not going to stop me from being upset. I just…" she trailed off, hiccuping and trying to stop crying. "I just wish that I didn't catch feelings so easily."

Rachel gave her a small smile. "Don't we all?"

"Definitely," Kori agreed, the tears sliding down her face slowing to a stop. "I really ought to stop dating, honestly."

Smirking, Rachel quipped, knowing that Kori was feeling a bit better, "That's what you said the last time."

"True," Kori said, almost laughing. "And look how that turned out." A frown reappeared on her face.

Rachel got up suddenly, heading towards the kitchen. She returned quickly with a tub of ice cream and a spoon for Kori and handed it to her. "I'm here for you. I hope you know that."

Sure, ice cream after a boy was a total cliche, but it was a cliche that Rachel swore by.

Kori gave Rachel a small smile, taking the ice cream gratefully. "Thank you, Rachel."

"If you're going to forget about that asshole, we have to do things the right way," she replied. "And I'm here to help with that."

A slightly confused expression broke through the sadness displayed on her face. "I really appreciate this, Rachel, but you don't have to."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Of course I don't _have_ to. I just want to."

Kori's confused look shifted to one of a more surprised nature. "In that case… I'd really love the company right now."

"That's what I thought." Rachel went over to a bin next to television and started to rummage through it. "So, I'm thinking… We could watch a movie?" she suggested.

Kori nodded as she started to eat the ice cream from the tub. " _The Notebook_ 's sounding excellent as of right now."

Rachel looked back towards her in sympathy before digging through their selection of movies to pull out the one she requested. She swiftly popped the DVD into their player and turned on the television. The title screen for the movie came into view, and Rachel pressed play before sitting back down onto the couch.

By the end of the movie, both girls were a crying mess. Rachel was particularly glad that she wasn't wearing any makeup—even though she didn't typically—because her face would have been entirely mascara stained if she was.

As the credits rolled, Rachel glanced over at her friend, who was still sobbing into her pillow. She hoped that she was crying over the movie and not over Roy, which was the intention of watching the movie in the first place.

 _"_ _They died together!"_ Kori wailed, resulting in Rachel cracking a smile, glad that Kori's mind was at least somewhat off her now ex-lover.

The task she had put herself up to was complete, at least for the time being.

Suddenly, Kori stopped crying and dried her eyes. "Can we go out tonight?"

 _Or not._

"Out? To a party?" Rachel asked, caught off-guard.

"Yes, to a party. I need to get drunk," Kori said mechanically.

Rachel definitely did not think that going out was going to be a good idea for Kori, but wanting to help her friend with her healing process, she said, "Sure. Mind if I ask Vic and see if there's anything good happening?"

"Go ahead," Kori granted.

"You go ahead and go get ready. I'll figure out plans, okay?"

Kori nodded stoically and walked to her room in silence, closing the door behind her.

Rachel wasn't exactly sure if she should be leaving Kori alone, but she figured that her friend needed some time to herself, so she slipped out of their apartment to go find Victor.

When she knocked on her friend's door, instead of Victor, Garfield answered. He was dressed plainly, in a white v-neck and jeans that were cuffed right above the ankles. His face lit up when he saw the girl in front of him, and suddenly, Rachel's heart started beating quickly out of nervousness, as she wasn't expecting to see him—even though this was his apartment too, since she was so focused on finding Victor for Kori's sake, she didn't expect to see him at all.

"Couldn't wait until tomorrow, huh, Roth?" Garfield joked, running his fingers through his hair.

Rachel rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, Garfield cut her off, saying, "I'm kidding, just kidding. Come on in." He waved her in and closed the door once she was inside.

"So," Garfield asked as he plopped down on the couch. "What's up?"

Rachel sat down on the chair adjacent to him, bringing her legs up onto the seat and crossing them. "Kori wants us to go out tonight, and I told her I'd find a party. You know of anything?"

Garfield raised an eyebrow in suspicion, a devilish expression flashing across his face. "You're going out again? That has to be an all-time record for you."

"Yeah, yeah. Make fun, but Kori wants to, and she wants me to come with," Rachel explained.

Garfield sat in thought before shaking his head. "I don't know of anything tonight, but I can ask Vic for ya, if you'd like."

After Rachel nodded in consent, he shifted his weight forward and popped off of the couch, heading down the hall towards what Rachel assumed to be their bedroom.

"Yo, Vic! You know of any parties going on tonight?" he called out.

After a few moments, Victor replied, loud enough for Rachel to hear, "Yeah, dude, just let me finish this code and I'll let you know."

Garfield returned back to the living room and, grinning at Rachel, said, "Well, you heard the guy."

He sat back down on the couch, slightly closer to Rachel this time. They sat there, Rachel looking down at her shoes, and Garfield looking at her, not talking.

Rachel wondered to herself where the anxiety she was currently feeling came from. Her and Garfield had been friends for the better part of a year already, and it didn't make any sense to her how these feelings for him, even if they were slight, had just randomly surfaced.

Maybe it was just because he was showing interest in her. Or maybe it was because when they almost kissed, it made her realize how badly she wanted to know how it would feel if they hadn't been interrupted the previous night.

No, that couldn't possibly be it.

"You know, I'm pretty excited for tomorrow night," Garfield admitted, breaking the silence, his usual demeanor replaced by something much more serious.

Rachel tore her gaze away from her footwear to look up at the man in front of her. "Me too," she whispered. She was somewhat shocked by the change in his tone.

Garfield beamed. "I"m glad to hear that."

"Same here."

Rachel was so nervous she had no idea how to converse with him at this point.

And neither did Garfield, apparently, because the silence between them resumed until Victor walked into the room.

"Alright, alright, quiet down, lovebirds," Victor joked, laughing heartily as he sat down next to Garfield.

Rachel's cheeks flamed, and she shot a dirty look towards Garfield as if to ask " _You told him?_ "; and Garfield shrugged guiltily before narrowing his eyes slightly and whacking Victor's leg. " _Duuuuude,"_ he whined.

"Sorry, sorry," Victor said defensively. "So, Rach, you're looking to get turnt again tonight?"

Rachel snorted. " _Kori's_ looking to "get turnt" tonight, and I'm just along for the ride," she dismissed.

Eying her suspiciously, he said, "Suuuure. Anyway, there's a club downtown I can get y'all into, but there's a catch."

Rachel raised her eyebrow in caution. "Which is?"

Victor and Garfield exchanged glances and nodded before Victor said, "We get to come with."

Rachel nodded, and the two boys hollered and fist-bumped, excited about going. Rachel rolled her eyes at their interactions and hoped that Kori wouldn't mind that they would be coming.

Getting up out of her seat, she headed for the door. "Meet you in an hour?"

"Sounds good, girl!" Vic replied. He got up as well to walk her out, and Garfield darted up to do the same.

"Better go put your dancing shoes on, Roth!"

Rachel sighed as she left and closed the door behind her. It sounded like she was in for another wild night.

* * *

 **Kind of a filler, I** **know. Kori will explain why Roy and her ended things eventually, I promise.**

 **Next up: The club!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reads and reviews! Here's the next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. Duh.**

* * *

Rachel had just finished putting on her eyeliner when she heard someone knocking on their front door. She groaned as she checked the time, and sure enough, an hour had already passed. She cursed herself for only requesting an hour to get ready as she slipped on and buckled her shoes, hurrying to go answer the door.

"Hey, y'all ready to…" Victor trailed off when he caught a glimpse of Rachel. "Damn girl, you look good. Gar's gonna die when he sees you."

Rachel blushed, unused to compliments. "Thank you."

Rachel had most definitely made the most out of the hour that she had to get ready to go. She had borrowed one of Kori's dresses again since she didn't really have "going out" attire, clubbing attire especially. The dress was made of a black velvet material that clung to her body and fell loosely right above her knee. A slit was cut on one side of the dress about half-way up the skirt, revealing her thigh just slightly. The v-neckline revealed minimal cleavage, and the whole thing was kept up by two, extremely thin straps. Black high heels adorned her feet that clasped around the ankles. Her hair was thrown up into a high ponytail, and silver moon earrings dangled from her ears. Light, smoky eyeshadow had been applied to her eyelids, and she had topped off the look with—courtesy of Kori—the same lip gloss she had worn the night before.

"What's up with that, anyway? You and G? Kinda felt like that happened overnight," Victor pried.

Rachel chuckled as she reached up to make sure her earrings were fastened securely. "We're just going on a date tomorrow night. No big deal."

Looking at her almost knowingly, Victor retorted, "It _is_ a big deal, Rae. I'm surprised the little dude finally got you to say yes."

Finally? Rachel furrowed her brows in thought, but before she could ask what Victor meant by that, Kori strutted into the room, looking as fabulous as ever.

The red-headed girl had opted for a spaghetti-strapped, gold-sequined mini-dress that fell roughly mid-thigh. The neckline plunged down past her breastbone, accentuating her breasts. She had curled her hair loosely and put it up into a high ponytail, and a few loose strands framed her face. She had put on large, gold earrings that matched the color of her dress, and a thin, black, velvet choker was clasped around her neck. The black, thigh-high, velvet boots that she wore added a few extra inches to her height. She had kept her makeup relatively simple: settling for winged eyeliner, mascara, and dark, red lipstick.

Victor let out a long, drawn out whistle. "You're really outdoing yourself, Kor."

Nodding, Rachel quipped, "Every boy is going to want you, and every girl is going to want to _be_ you—and a few the other way around, too. You look great."

Kori twirled once and flashed a smile towards her friends. "Thanks—I hope so." She clasped her hands together before asking, "Are we drinking before we go, or is Victor buying all the drinks tonight?"

Victor put both of his arms around both of the girls' shoulders in a friendly manner. "A little bit of both, if that's okay with y'all."

"Sounds perfect," Kori said, turning her head towards Victor, she asked, "Your place, Vic?"

"Yep. Let's go, ladies—we're about to have the time of our lives."

Kori grinned, raising one arm up to the sky. "I'll drink to that."

The trio made their way back next door, Rachel sure to lock their door on their way out. Victor opened the door to his apartment for the girls, and while Kori thanked him before walking in, Rachel commented, "And they say chivalry's dead."

"Yo, G! We're all here and ready to go when you are," Victor announced.

Garfield peeked out from the kitchen and responded, "In here!" He waved his arm around sporadically before returning back to the kitchen counter.

Kori made a beeline for the kitchen, Victor right behind her. Rachel, however, walked slowly, focusing on not tripping over her heels. She approached the kitchen cautiously as she desperately tried not to make a fool of herself.

"Hey, Kor!" Garfield exclaimed as he saw his neighbor, going to give her a side-hug. "How've you been?"

Kori hugged her friend as best as she could from the side. "Hi, Garfield! I've been better, not going to lie—but as long as we have a good time tonight, that'll all change."

"That's what I'm talking about," Garfield declared as he patted her on the back. "I hope you're alright," he added.

Kori smiled. "I will be."

"Good," Garfield stated as he headed to the fridge. He poured himself a cup of water and took a sip of it before asking, "Where's Roth?"

Rachel was currently leaned up against a cabinet, and when Garfield laid eyes on her, he almost spit out his water, sputtering out something that sounded a lot like "holy fucking hell".

Both Victor and Rachel smirked at his reaction, while Kori looked between all of her friends, thoroughly lost.

"Hello to you, too," Rachel said, her eyes gleaming. "You have a little something there."

Garfield's face flushed as he quickly wiped away the liquid that was dribbling down his chin. "Hi."

"You look nice, too," Rachel commented as she sat at one of the barstools by the counter.

Garfield was wearing a white, short-sleeved button down that fit him just a bit loose. He had on black skinny jeans that ended right above the ankle. White leather sneakers were on his feet. His hair was slightly messy, but it was sticking up in all the right places, obvious that he had styled it that way.

Rachel had to take a deep breath in order to slow her heart and remain collected.

She felt his eyes burning into her, and trying to take his attention off of her, she suggested, "So, shall we get this night started then?"

Victor, who had tasked himself with taking out shot glasses for everyone, started passing them out. "Let's do this."

—

Rachel had made the executive decision to not drink anything, self-designating herself as the driver for the group that night. Kori begged her to drink with her, saying that they could just get a cab there and back, that they didn't necessarily _need_ one of them to drive, but Rachel held her ground. "I really shouldn't drink any more after last night," she explained.

Plus, she wanted to make sure that Kori wasn't going to do anything she'd regret when morning came, and being intoxicated would definitely make that more of a challenge.

Victor shrugged. "More for me then, I guess." He rummaged through his front pockets for a few seconds before pulling out his car keys and tossing them to Rachel. "You'd better get future me's drunk ass back home and in bed, Rae. And not a _scratch_ on my baby."

Chuckling, Rachel caught the keys deftly and said, "Gotcha."

And then the drinking began. Rachel watched as Garfield opened up a bottle of whiskey and poured the maple-colored liquid into the other two's glasses before filling his to the brim and knocking it back in one smooth motion. The other two grinned at each other before clinking glasses and downing their drinks as well. Kori quickly held her shot glass out for Garfield to refill. "One more before we hit the road?"

"Drink up, Kor." Garfield quickly obliged and poured more into her glass before holding the bottle up for Victor, wiggling his eyebrows tauntingly. "Ten seconds. Unless you're not down."

"Gimme that," Victor said, snatching the bottle from his roommate's hands and bringing the bottle to his lips.

Rachel smirked as she heard Kori and Garfield start to count down from ten. There was no way that chugging any kind of hard alcohol was going to end well for any of them, and, knowing that she was going to have to take care of all of them throughout the night, she wondered if agreeing with Kori to go out was such a good idea in the first place. Then the countdown was over, and the onlookers, minus Rachel, cheered. Victor wiped his mouth and grinned triumphantly. He handed the now nearly-empty bottle back to Garfield, who was clearly impressed. "Dude. You're a fucking legend."

Rachel desperately tried to hold in a snort at his reaction, which, to her luck, went by unnoticed.

Victor clapped him on the back and laughed heartily. "Okay folks, get your last drinks in. We need to head out before this all kicks in."

Kori let out an excited squeal before heading for the door. "I'm _so_ excited for this! We're going to have _so_ much fun, and wait, where are we going again? You know, I don't even care…" Her voice trailed off as she walked out the door with Victor by her side, laughing at her rambling.

Sighing, Rachel hopped down from the barstool, pulling up the front of her dress. When she looked up, Garfield was standing at the door, holding it open, waiting for her with a grin on his face. She was surprised to see him, as she thought he went ahead with the other two.

She swore that his smile grew wider with every inch she walked towards him.

"You really do look beautiful tonight," he said as she walked out the door, closing and locking it behind them.

She blushed, and an involuntary smile broke out on her face; but instead of thanking him, she remarked snarkily, "And I don't look beautiful _every_ day, Logan?"

Rachel didn't think she'd ever seen Garfield's face turn such a _wonderful_ shade of red before. "You do," he sputtered. "It's just, uh… Fuck, Roth, you know what I frickin' mean," he grumbled exasperatedly after he caught a glimpse of her entertained expression.

She bit back a laugh as he stuck his hands into his pockets dejectedly. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Thank you."

He grinned toothily and nudged her before starting to walk to Victor's car. "Yeah, no problem. Vic's car's a ways away—we'd better go and catch up to the others."

Rachel followed closely behind him as they started walking. "So, where exactly is this place that Victor's having us go to?" she asked, curious.

"It's right on the edge of downtown," Garfield said. "Kinda has a speakeasy feel to it. There's a password and everything."

"Interesting," she said, intrigued. "So you've been before?"

He nodded. "Yeah, once. For Richard's last birthday, actually." He looked down at the ground, chuckling to himself. "That was an interesting night."

"I'm surprised that he took the time off of studying to go."

"Yeah, I was too," Garfield admitted. "But looks like everyone's full of surprises, eh?" He elbowed her, clearly referring to her.

"The _only_ reason why I'm out tonight is to go with Kori," Rachel stated.

"Uh, that hasn't exactly stopped you from staying in before," Garfield said, confused.

Rachel pursed her lips. Feeling the need to justify her actions for going out for the second night in a row, she confessed, "Kori ended things with Roy. She said she wanted to go out… So, here I am."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I want to make sure she's okay."

"I never liked the dude anyway," Garfield said bitterly. "She alright?"

"Honestly? I don't think so," Rachel said. "I think she really liked him."

Garfield pat Rachel on the back gently before resting his arm around her shoulders. "We'll make sure to take her mind off things tonight. Promise."

"Thanks, Logan." She tensed up as he touched her, but she relaxed after a second. Her damned heart beat a little bit faster, and she wondered if she was devolving into one of those girls she hated; the ones that fell apart at the seams for a boy, the ones that would do absolutely anything for them. _And if I am,_ the voice in the back of her head echoed, _maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing._

Rachel choked, coughing, not expecting that thought to come from him just putting an arm around her. She was losing it, most definitely.

"Oh look," she said hurriedly, "We're here." Rachel didn't catch the look of hurt that flashed over Garfield's face as she rushed away from him and to the driver's side of the car, getting in.

Kori and Victor were both already in the car, chatting amongst themselves. Kori was sitting in the passenger seat, and Victor was in the back. "Finally!" Kori exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"You guys couldn't have been waiting _that_ long for us," Garfield said as he climbed into the backseat. "We were only, like, two minutes behind you, max."

"Actually, it was seven, my man," Victor chimed in. "Y'all walk slow as fuck."

Garfield scoffed. "And you're probably drunk as fuck," he said defensively. "After all that? You have to be."

"I'm a big guy, little dude—I'm buzzing at the most."

Grumbling, Garfield muttered something under his breath that Rachel couldn't quite catch, but sent Victor into a laughing fit.

Rachel and Kori exchanged confused looks before chuckling as well.

Not questioning their antics, Rachel started up the car. Between his hysterical laughs, the address for where they were going escaped Victor's lips, and Rachel headed to their destination.

—

"This is it."

After Rachel had parked the car along the side of a poorly lit sidewalk, Victor led the group to the entrance of their destination. The club was located in the rougher parts of the outskirts of Jump City. It was in what looked like an abandoned, brick apartment complex that was falling apart. Different colored lights streamed through the cracks in the newspapers that had been placed over the windows. Rachel could hear bass thumping against the walls of the building and feel the vibrations from the music through the bottom of her shoes.

A muscular man was leaned up against the railing of the stairs smoking a cigarette. As the four approached, he stood up, towering over even Victor, with his arms crossed. Victor leaned towards the man and muttered what Rachel assumed to be the password, and the man moved aside, grunting out, "Enjoy," in a gruff voice. Garfield and Victor grinned at each other and made their way into the building excitedly, and Kori followed suit without hesitation.

Very tentatively, Rachel nodded in gratitude towards the man and followed her friends into the building.

Rachel went slack-jawed as she took in her surroundings. The entire place was packed. All of the walls of the apartment building had all been knocked down to form one, large room. The floors were all a white marble, which contrasted the wall's black paint. Sleek leather couches and chairs were scattered around the outskirts of the dance floor, and booths lined the walls.

The bar, which was off to the left in respect to the entryway, was made entirely of the same marble as the floor, making it look continuous with it, and LED lights had been installed around it that flashed along to the beat of the music. There were a quite a few people surrounding the bar, and the bartender was mixing drinks quickly to keep up with orders.

Groups of people flocked to the checkered dance floor, which was in the middle of the building. Each tile of the floor flashed a different color, similar to the bar. Laser beams that came from above danced along to the music, and synthetic smoke curled around each person's feet. If you looked closely, you could make out the hazy image of the DJ that was in the middle of the crowd of people, feeding off of the clubbers' energy and jumping up and down along with the music.

Overall, Rachel was absolutely entranced by the lights and entirely overwhelmed by everything else. There were so many people…

In the time she had spent gawking, she had become separated from her friends. Rachel scanned the crowd, squinting her eyes, and to her luck, she spotted Kori's red hair in a booth.

As she maneuvered through what felt like a human maze, her shoulder collided with someone else. She turned around to apologize, but all Rachel saw was a flash of blonde disappearing in the opposite direction. It was about then when Rachel first wished she had never agreed to leave the house, even if it was for Kori's benefit.

"Rachel! We thought we'd lost you!" Kori called over the loud music.

"Yeah," Garfield agreed. "You totally disappeared on us."

Rachel bit back her scowl from her previous encounter and joined her friends, scooting into the booth. "Can't get rid of me that easily."

"Good!" Kori exclaimed. "Anyways, Victor went to go meet up with a friend, so it's just us three for now."

The song changed, and Kori squealed. "I _love_ this song! You guys want to go dance?"

Before Rachel could say no, she had to remind herself that she was here to help take Kori's mind off of Roy. But before she could get up, Garfield was on his feet, escorting Kori to the dance floor. He winked at Rachel and mouthed to her _'Don't worry, I've got this',_ leaving Rachel with a small smile on her face, feeling relieved that she wouldn't have to go dance.

She watched the two of them start to dance, side by side, to the fast pace of the music. Garfield started jumping up and down and pumping his fist into the air, sending Kori into a fit of giggles as she rocked back and forth, mainly dancing with her shoulders.

Garfield caught Rachel's gaze and gave her a thumbs up before getting back down to business with some intricate footwork.

Rachel held back her laughter and pulled out her phone to check her email, trying to look busy even though she most definitely wasn't. There was nothing new other than a few junk mails, so she put down her phone. She would have to find another way to pass the time.

But she wasn't really a fan of anything around her. The music was too loud for her tastes, the socialization aspect of clubbing made her anxious, and she wasn't going to go dance, either.

So she didn't really have too many choices.

Quite a few songs finished while Rachel considered her options, and luckily, Victor returned to the table before she started people-watching.

"Rae! Why aren't you out there, girl?" he said as he motioned towards the dance floor, sitting down.

"Eh," Rachel shrugged. "I'm not really one for dancing."

Victor laughed and shook his head. "Last night said otherwise."

"That's not fair!" she protested. "I was drinking last night."

"True, true," he replied. "Is that how G finally snagged you?" He rested his arms against the table, leaning forward. He wiggled his eyebrows before saying, "Do tell."

Rachel snickered towards her friend's interest in Garfield and her. "There's not much to tell. We did shots and we danced." She left out the fact that they almost kissed, not quite ready to go down that road gossip-wise.

"Uh huh," Victor said, uninterested. "And now you're going out with him. Something seems to be missing from the equation, Rae."

She put up her hands defensively, even though she knew she was lying. "There's nothing missing, Vic! That's all that happened!"

"Riiight. Anyway, it sounds like you did a number on G, because he has your whole date planned for tomorrow night."

Rachel's heart fluttered at the mention of their date. "I'm excited." An involuntary smile spread across her face. "Nervous," she added, "but excited."

"Excited? Excited for what?" Garfield cut into their conversation, having returned to the table from the dance floor. Breathing hard, he sat down next to Rachel, who had choked on air.

Victor started laughing as Rachel turned pink. "Oh, nothing," she said dismissively. She ran her fingers through her hair nervously. "Where's Kori?"

Stretching, Garfield leaned back into the chair. "She went to the bathroom." He started to catch his breath after all of that dancing, and he asked, "What've you been doing all night, Vic?"

Victor flashed his roommate his signature smile. "Oh, y'know. I had a couple more drinks. Caught up with a couple of my comp sci buddies. Oh, and Karen says hi."

Garfield's eyes widened in excitement for Victor. "Dude! Karen totally digs you. Why don't you just ask her out already?"

Victor waved a napkin in front of Garfield's face that had what Rachel assumed to be Karen's phone number written on it before folding it nicely and putting it in his front shirt pocket. "Already have, G," he replied smugly. "Just no requests for any double dates, okay?"

"Gotcha," Garfield nodded as he turned to Rachel. "I've got a few songs reserved for you if you want to dance tonight," he suggested, changing the topic entirely. It was almost as if the idea of dates reminded Garfield exclusively of her.

Rachel quickly shook that idea from her head. That was borderline crazy.

"Wow, I'm so lucky that you have time for me in that busy schedule of yours," Rachel commented sarcastically. "But you know I don't dance, Logan."

A frown appeared on Garfield's face before he stuck out his bottom lip into a pout. "Please? Just one song? I promise it won't be too painful."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "If I say yes, will you stop doing that?"

Garfield nodded enthusiastically.

"Then I guess so."

"Really?" Garfield's eyes lit up, and he practically jumped out of the booth. He patiently held his hand out for her.

Sighing, Rachel pushed herself out of the booth and took his hand. She turned to Victor, who was currently laughing so hard the table was shaking, and said, "If we're not back in ten minutes, come save me."

Victor shook his head. "No way, girl. 'I don't dance' _my ass,"_ he laughed uproariously.

Garfield led Rachel through the mass of people dancing until he found a spot for them that was a little less crowded than the rest. "Here okay?"

Rachel nodded as she looked around nervously. People around her were pressed up against each other, moving their hips together fervently, much like the people at Garfield's party the night before. Even though she knew he wouldn't make her dance with him in such a manner, she still felt uncomfortable being in such close quarters with all of these people.

And then Garfield started to dance. His whole body seamlessly flowed to the rhythm of the music, his head bobbing up and down. He popped up his collar and wiggled his eyebrows at her, grinning. "You just have to loosen up, Roth!" he said over the music as he took both her hands into his. He started to shake her arms around playfully, trying to get her to dance.

A small laugh escaped from Rachel's mouth, and she began to attempt to move her hips to the song. "I'll try," she said.

Garfield's eyes shone as he watched her dance. "I never thought I'd see the day that Rachel Roth would be dancing at a club." He pulled her a little closer to him, rubbing her hands with his thumbs.

"Yeah, me neither. But spring break!" she replied sarcastically.

"That's the spirit," he said as he winked.

He spun her, which caught Rachel off-guard, and she ended up even closer to him. Their bodies were now just centimeters apart, and when she noticed just how close their faces were, she flushed and looked down.

They started to move in sync as Garfield led. He guided her, resting his hands on her hips gently. He kept his emerald eyes locked on her the whole time, sending electricity down her spine.

Rachel damn well knew it was a cliche, but despite all of the sweaty people constantly bumping into her, she almost felt like it was just her and Garfield dancing together.

But then the song ended, ceasing the magic, and their dancing slowed to a stop. He stepped back and bowed his head, thanking her for the dance, and said, "You wanna go back?" He started walking back to the booth, expecting her to follow.

She tucked a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear. With her other hand, she caught his retreating hand. "One… One more song couldn't hurt." She felt quite silly, requesting to dance with him more when she usually was so against it.

Garfield's eyes twinkled as he turned towards her. "Sure thing," he said coolly, interlocking his fingers with hers.

Rachel smiled and pulled him closer to her once again for one more song.

And then one song turned to two, and two to three…

They were totally lost in their own world for a moment. But it was new, and it was theirs, so they didn't give a damn.

But all good things have to end sometime, and Garfield eventually pulled away. "We should—uh, probably get back to Vic," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and motioning back towards their friend, who had tasked himself with stacking plastic cups into a tower.

Rachel laughed as she saw him. "Yeah, we probably should."

The two walked back to the booth in silence, hand in hand.

"Vic, dude, you look bored out of your mind," Garfield said as they reached him.

Victor snapped out of his focused state and started taking down the cups. "Just a little."

"Kori's not here?" Rachel asked stupidly, confused, noticing that her housemate wasn't anywhere in sight.

"I'm right here," Kori said from behind the group.

Rachel turned around, dropped Garfield's hand, and frowned when she saw her. Kori had taken her hair out of her ponytail, and her makeup—what was left of it, anyway—was smeared across her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had just been crying.

"Are you okay, Kor?" Rachel asked, taken aback.

Kori's eyes screamed no, but she nodded and replied, "I—I'm okay." She smiled weakly as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I just want to go home. Turns out that going out doesn't make you forget about a boy."

Rachel nodded. She felt awful and a bit selfish, knowing that she should have spent more time with Kori while they were there. "You guys ready to go?" Rachel asked, turning to the boys.

Both Victor and Garfield looked at Kori sympathetically. "We're ready," Victor said, getting up.

"Yeah, let's go."

As they walked to the car, Victor put his arm around Kori, wanting to console her, but she flinched away from him and kept walking alone until she reached the car.

"Maybe Roy called her earlier," Garfield whispered to Rachel as they walked.

"Probably," she sighed.

Rachel unlocked the car door and they all got in. She started the car and started driving back home. She turned up the volume for the radio, figuring that her housemate didn't want to talk much.

Kori was silent the entire drive back. And she didn't say anything much other than goodbye after they had arrived and walked back before unlocking the door to her apartment and going inside, leaving the door open for Rachel.

"I…" Rachel was stunned. She had never seen Kori act like this, let alone over a boy. "I should probably go inside and see if she's okay." She exchanged goodnights with the other two, smiling apologetically towards Garfield before going inside, closing and locking the door behind her.

But Kori was already in her room with the door closed.

Rachel frowned, feeling even worse than she did before. She really hoped that going out would make Kori feel better.

Sighing, Rachel shook her head and started to get ready for bed. Hopefully Kori would feel better in the morning.

* * *

 **I probably wasn't explicit enough, but something else happened to Kori while they were at the club. Rachel's just a bit oblivious due to her recent interactions with Gar.**

 **Next up: Rachel & Gar's first date.**


End file.
